France, Germany to present joint economic reform plan

23rd November 2014, 0 comments

Germany and France plan to present a joint economic reform plan Thursday under which Paris would freeze wages and Berlin would hike public investment, a news report said.

France would make its labour rules, including the 35-hour week, more flexible in many sectors and seek to freeze wages for three years to make companies more competitive, reported Der Spiegel news weekly on Sunday.

Under the proposals, Germany would double its infrastructure spending to 20 billion euros ($25 billion) by 2018, and the fast-ageing country would reform immigration rules and do more to get women into the workforce, according to the report.

The "road map" plan for Europe's two biggest economies will be presented Thursday in Paris by German Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, the report said.

It is based on a government-commissioned study by Henrik Enderlein, head of the Jacques Delors Institute in Berlin, and Jean Pisani-Ferry, chief economic strategist of French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, said Der Spiegel.

The plan would be a compromise between Berlin, which has long preached fiscal discipline in the crisis-hit EU, and Paris, which is grappling with high unemployment and a ballooning budget deficit and has been urging more stimulus spending.